Australian scientists from the University of Tasmania have found that the number of extremely severe bushfires worldwide has doubled in the past 20 years. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Nature Ecology and Evolution (NEE).
The team’s findings are based on satellite-based calculations of the energy released by various wildfires from 2003 to 2023.
Researchers identified a total of 30 million fires. They then selected 2,913 of these with the highest energy release, or 0.01% of the strongest foci.
The study found that these extreme fires have become more frequent, doubling in number over the period, and the criteria for “extreme fire” have also changed.
The most intense fire events of recent years produced twice as much energy as fires in the early 2000s.
These results are consistent with other recent evidence that wildfires are worsening, the researchers said.
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Source: Gazeta
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